Tag: dispute (Page 1 of 2)

Embraer Cheers Brazilian Government Decision to Review Aeronautic Sector Subsidies

February 18, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

São Paulo, Brazil, February 18, 2021 – Embraer (NYSE: ERJ) welcomes the Brazilian Government’s decisions to withdraw its ongoing World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute with Canada regarding aeronautical subsidies and to launch negotiations on more effective disciplines to regulate government support in the Commercial Aviation segment.

At the WTO, Brazil challenged more than USD 3 billion in illegal subsidies that the Governments of Canada and Quebec provided to Bombardier for the launch, development and production of the C-Series program. These subsidies distorted the conditions of competition in the global market for commercial aircraft, causing serious prejudice to Embraer, in clear violation of WTO rules.

Although Brazil has a strong case, the WTO dispute became ineffective to address the Canadian subsidies and to remedy the distortions generated in the market. After Bombardier exited the Commercial Aviation segment and transferred the C-Series program (now called A220) to Airbus, which has a second assembly line in the United States, the trade dispute against Canada at the WTO is no longer the most effective means to achieve Brazil’s and Embraer’s goal of reestablishing a level playing field in this sector.

Embraer also supports Brazil’s initiative to launch negotiations for more effective disciplines on government support in the commercial aviation segment, as the best way to achieve this goal, as previously seen with the successful experience of the OECD’s Aircraft Sector Understanding (ASU), signed in 2007 to regulate export credits. Ultimately, Embraer believes that commercial aircraft manufacturers should compete against each other based on the merits of their product, not on the amount of funding they receive from their governments.

U.S. Leaves Tariffs on Airbus Aircraft Unchanged at 15%

August 12, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government on Wednesday said it would maintain 15% tariffs on Airbus <AIR.PA> aircraft and 25% tariffs on other European goods, despite moves by the European Union to resolve a 16-year-old dispute over aircraft subsidies.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer (USTR) said the EU had not taken actions necessary to come into compliance with World Trade Organization decisions, and Washington would initiate a new process to try to reach a long-term solution.

USTR said it would modify its list of $7.5 billion of affected European products to remove certain goods from Greece and Britain and add an equivalent amount from Germany and France.

It ignored calls from EU officials and U.S. lawmakers to drop tariffs on EU food, wine and spirits, but did not add tariffs to vodka, gin and beer as it had threatened.

Airbus said it “profoundly regrets” the U.S. decision to keep tariffs in place on its aircraft.

Washington’s decision to refrain from increasing the tariff rates would help prevent a further escalation, an EU official said, calling for intensified efforts to resolve trade conflicts between the powerful economic blocs.

EU trade commissioner Phil Hogan would continue his active engagement with Lighthizer to reach a negotiated settlement, the official said, noting that the current economic slowdown underscored the urgency of ending the conflict.

Last month, Airbus said it would increase loan repayments to France and Spain in a “final” bid to reverse U.S. tariffs and jog the United States into settling the long-running fight over billions of dollars of aircraft subsidies.

The United States declared itself in full compliance with WTO findings in May after Washington state abolished aerospace industry tax breaks that largely benefited Boeing.

Trade groups are bracing for an escalation of the row in the autumn when the EU is expected to win WTO approval to hit back with its own tariffs over subsidies for Boeing <BA>.

Airbus said in a statement it “trusts that Europe will respond appropriately to defend its interests and the interests of all the European companies and sectors, including Airbus, targeted by these tariffs.”

Boeing urged the EU and Airbus to launch prompt and “meaningful negotiations with the U.S. to address the full scope of their noncompliance and finally bring this case to an end.”

USTR in October 2019 imposed 25% tariffs on an array of EU food, wine and spirits, including Italian cheese and single-malt Scotch whisky in retaliation for EU subsidies on large aircraft.

It initially imposed 10% tariffs on Airbus aircraft but hiked that to 15% in March.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal, David Lawder, David Shepardson and Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Chris Reese, Richard Pullin and Tom Brown)

Airbus Offers Subsidy Concession to End U.S. Tariffs

July 26, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

PARIS (Reuters) – Europe’s Airbus <AIR.PA> said on Friday it would increase loan repayments to France and Spain in a “final” bid to reverse U.S. tariffs and jog the United States into settling a 16-year-old dispute over billions of dollars of aircraft subsidies.

The European Union, France and Spain said the move to raise interest rates paid by Airbus on A350 aircraft development loans should settle the row at the World Trade Organization and urged Washington to withdraw tariffs on EU goods.

“In the absence of a settlement, the EU will be ready to fully avail itself of its own sanction rights,” EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said.

The loans are part of a system targeted by the United States in the world’s largest corporate trade dispute, which has also aired condemnation of U.S. support for Boeing <BA>.

The United States last year won WTO authorization to impose tariffs on up to $7.5 billion of EU goods from wine to whisky.

Trade groups are bracing for an escalation of the row in the autumn when the EU is expected to win WTO approval to hit back with its own tariffs over subsidies for Boeing.

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https://finance.yahoo.com/news/airbus-offers-final-concession-jet-073157204.html

Airbus Sees Airlines Seeking to Defer or Cancel Orders

March 24, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus <EADSY> said in a stock market filing on Monday that customers could seek to cancel or postpone delivery of airliners and helicopters as the coronavirus crisis continues to escalate.

It issued the warning in an annual reference document ahead of its upcoming Amsterdam shareholder meeting, for which it urged participants to vote by proxy rather than attend in person due to widespread measures to slow the spread of the disease.

Airbus Chief Executive Guillaume Faury said earlier that several airlines had asked to defer deliveries, but that most were continuing to pay their deposits.

“Weaker market and economic conditions in China and their knock-on effects in other markets could result in requests by customers to postpone delivery or cancel existing orders for aircraft (including helicopters),” the filing said, though Faury said earlier there were some signs of recovery in China.

Airbus also detailed steps to improve compliance practices after paying a 3.6-billion-euro fine last month to settle a four-year multinational bribery probe.

But it warned that possible further investigations in other jurisdictions could trigger claims against it by shareholders, impact its ability to raise finance or limit its eligibility for public contracts, as well as harm future commercial sales.

Malaysian authorities last week cleared AirAsia Group <5099.KL> after Britain’s Serious Fraud Office faulted a sponsorship deal between former Airbus parent EADS and a motor racing team owned by the airline’s co-founders.

But the SFO probe, supported by Airbus’s own lawyers, caused a severe rift between AirAsia and its sole supplier, adding to doubts over whether long-haul unit AirAsiaX will take delivery of A330neo jets on order, three people close to the matter said.

AirAsia officials could not be reached for comment. Airbus declined comment.

Loss-making AirAsiaX has said only that it wants to defer delivery of A330neo jets due to the coronavirus crisis.

Deliveries of the wide-body aircraft have also been hit by the impact of U.S. tariffs on Airbus aircraft under a long-running trade dispute, as well as concerns about overcapacity.

Airbus trimmed A330 output in January from about four a month in 2019, Reuters reported earlier this month.

In Monday’s filing, Airbus said it would maintain production of the A330neo at 3.5 aircraft a month.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Mark Potter, William Maclean)

Spirit Airlines to Buy 100 Airbus A320neo Family Aircraft

December 23, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

A logo of low cost carrier Spirit Airlines is pictured on an Airbus plane in Colomiers near Toulouse

(Reuters) – U.S. budget carrier Spirit Airlines Inc <SAVE> said on Monday it will buy 100 Airbus <EADSY> A320neo-family jets to be delivered through 2027, with options to purchase up to 50 additional aircraft.

The deal includes a mix of Airbus A319, A320, and A321 models, the company said.

The purchase agreement finalizes an October provisional deal for the aircraft, when Spirit picked European planes despite Washington imposing tariffs on them.

Depending on the number of each variant of the A320 single-aisle family chosen, the deal could be worth $11 billion to $12 billion at the most recent 2018 Airbus list prices, but industry sources say such deals typically involve discounts of at least 50%.

Washington has imposed 10% tariffs on some of the planes Airbus offers to U.S. carriers, as part of a long-running transatlantic trade dispute over aircraft subsidies.

Spirit currently operates an all-Airbus fleet of 140 jets.

Aircraft are typically ordered several years in advance, meaning any planes ordered now would only be covered by tariffs in the event of an extended transatlantic tariff war. Airbus jets assembled at a plant in Alabama are not currently included.

(Reporting by Rachit Vats in Bengaluru and Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Lisa Shumaker)

U.S. Says May Raise Tariffs on EU Products in Aircraft Subsidy Row

December 2, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

WASHINGTON, Dec 2 (Reuters) – The U.S. government on Monday said it would review the possibility of raising tariffs on European Union products and applying tariffs to more products, given what it called lack of progress in resolving a dispute over aircraft subsidies.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office said Monday’s decision by the World Trade Organization (WTO) affirmed the U.S. position that European Union launch aid to planemaker Airbus continued to harm the U.S. aerospace industry.

“In light of today’s report and the lack of progress in efforts to resolve this dispute, the United States is initiating a process to assess increasing the tariff rates and subjecting additional EU products to the tariffs,” USTR said in a statement. It said it would release more information about the process later this week.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

EU hasn’t ended illegal subsidies to Airbus, WTO panel says

British Airways, Pilots Union Agree on Preliminary Pay Deal to End Dispute

November 22, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: British Airways logos are seen on tail fins at Heathrow Airport in west London

(Reuters) – British Airways and its pilots’ union BALPA have reached a preliminary agreement to end the pay dispute that resulted in the first walkout by pilots in the airline’s history, the union said on Friday.

The agreement came after the two sides held talks under the auspices of the ACAS arbitration service.

BALPA said in a statement: “We can confirm that BALPA, BA and ACAS have put together a new pay and conditions proposal and, subject to final checks, BALPA expects it will shortly be consulting its 4,000 BA members on them.”

A BA spokeswoman said “We welcome this positive step.”

As part of the agreement, BA agreed to insert an inflation protection clause to its previous pay offer of an 11.5% rise over three years, the Financial Times reported.

The airline also offered improvements to working conditions, rostering and flight bonuses, the paper added.

British Airways pilots went on strike for 48 hours in September, grounding 1,700 flights.

BA, part of International Consolidated Airlines Group <ICAG.L>, said in September that the strikes had cost it 137 million euros ($151 million).

(Reporting by Alistair Smout in London and Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Louise Heavens)

Evening taxi to Runway 6L, Toronto-Pearson

Atlas Air and Southern Air Prevail in Appeals Court Ruling Against Teamsters Pilot Union

November 22, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

PURCHASE, N.Y., Nov. 21, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (AAWW) today confirmed that its subsidiaries Atlas Air, Inc. and Southern Air, Inc. have prevailed in another legal dispute with the union that represents its pilots in ongoing negotiations, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirms a March 13, 2018, decision by the Southern District Court of New York compelling the Teamsters to arbitrate whether the merger provisions in Atlas Air and Southern Air’s collective bargaining agreements apply to the bargaining process. Today’s decision, as well as two binding decisions by arbitrators rendered in favor of both Atlas Air and Southern Air this summer, have made clear that IBT must engage in the current Atlas Air and Southern Air collective bargaining agreements’ expedited and defined process for achieving a joint collective bargaining agreement.

In a separate labor-related decision rendered in July 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia unanimously affirmed a federal district court ruling in November 2017 that ordered the union to stop an intentional and illegal work slowdown by Atlas Air pilots in violation of the Railway Labor Act. The unanimous ruling from a three-judge panel upheld the lower-court order that blocked the union from continuing to engage in improper activities such as excessive sick calls on short notice or refusing to volunteer for open time.

“With these decisions behind us, it’s time for the union to honor its obligations under the collective bargaining agreements and these binding decisions. Specifically, the union has an obligation to produce an integrated seniority list and engage in direct bargaining for a defined and limited period of time. In ongoing negotiations, the union has yet to provide us with a comprehensive economic proposal covering pay and benefits for evaluation. We remain committed to working collaboratively with union leaders to efficiently negotiate and complete the contract,” said William J. Flynn, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Atlas Air Worldwide.

For more information about the contract negotiations process and updates, please visit AtlasAir5YPilots.com and follow @AtlasAir5Y on Twitter.

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Canadian Ministers Meet with CN Rail, Union in Effort to Avert Strike

November 18, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

MONTREAL/WINNIPEG, Nov 18 (Reuters) – Canada’s Liberal government sent two ministers on Monday to meet with representatives of Canadian National Railway Ltd and its largest union, as already hard-hit shippers pleaded for government intervention to avert a strike planned for early on Tuesday.

The threatened strike by 3,000 workers with Teamsters Canada comes after CN, the country’s largest railroad operator, said on Friday it would cut management and union jobs, as it grapples with softer economic conditions.

Labor Minister Patty Hajdu and Transportation Minister Marc Garneau were to meet with representatives from CN and the union in Montreal, Hajdu’s press secretary Veronique Simard said, following a stalemate in contract talks.

CN said it believes a strike can be averted “with the assistance of federal mediators,” after Teamsters declined to submit to binding interest arbitration. “We expect talks to continue up to Nov. 19,” CN said. Teamsters and CN reached a last-minute deal in 2017 that averted a planned strike. Canada, one of the world’s biggest exporters of farm products, relies on its two main railways to move canola and wheat over the vast distances from western farms to ports. Crude oil shippers in Alberta have also used trains in the past two years to reach U.S. refineries as an alternative to congested pipelines.

Alberta wheat and barley commissions, representing farmers, urged Ottawa to intervene, as they are already facing difficult harvest conditions because of weather. “There are a lot of farmers who already have a significant amount of their income trapped under snow,” said Gary Stanford, Alberta Wheat Commission chair. “Now adding insult to injury, we’re looking at possible CN rail strike action too.”

CN was expecting slightly lower fourth-quarter crude shipments from the third quarter, officials said on an Oct. 22 conference call.

Slumping commodity prices, congested oil pipelines and a dispute with China that has hampered Canadian agriculture exports have pressured the economies of resource-rich western provinces.

Teamsters Canada spokesman Christopher Monette said the planned strike by its conductors, train personnel and yard workers comes because workers are “hitting a wall on issues related to health and safety.”

“While we continue to negotiate in good faith and in hopes of avoiding a labor dispute, we have every intention of striking at 00:01 a.m. ET tonight (0501 GMT) unless an agreement can be reached before then,” Monette said by email.

CN shares were trading down 0.5% in early afternoon Toronto trading.

(Reporting By Allison Lampert in Montreal and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg; Additional reporting by Kelsey Johnson in Ottawa; Editing by Tom Brown and Marguerita Choy)

S. Korea Display F-35 Stealth Jets seen by the North as a Threat

September 30, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

SEOUL, Oct 1 (Reuters) – South Korea showcased newly acquired F-35 stealth fighter jets to mark Armed Forces Day on Tuesday as President Moon Jae-in tried to allay concerns that his policy of engagement with North Korea would weaken the South’s commitment to defence.

At an event marking the founding of the South Korean military, Moon said South Korean fighter jets conducted patrol flights offshore, including over islands at the centre of a bitter territorial dispute with Japan.

North Korea has criticised the South’s weapons procurements and its joint military drills with the U.S. military as undisguised preparations for war that are forcing it to develop new short-range missiles.

Moon has thrown his support behind dialogue to end the North’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, urging that working-level negotiations between the North and the United States be held soon. No new dates or locations have been set.

Moon marked Armed Forces Day at a ceremony at an airbase in the city of Daegu that highlighted four of the eight Lockheed Martin F-35A jets delivered this year. Forty of the aircraft are to be delivered by 2021.

During the event, an F-15K jet patrolled over the islands claimed by both South Korea and Japan and called Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan.

Moon made no direction mention of North Korea or Japan but said today’s security climate was highly unpredictable, requiring strength and innovation.

“As the recent drone attack in the Middle East region demonstrated to the world, the challenges that we will face will be entirely different from those of the past,” he said in an address to the military. “The war of the future will be a fight of science and intelligence against all elements that threaten our people’s safety and property.”

Analysts have said the F-35 stealth jets put North Korea’s anti-aircraft and anti-missile defence systems in a vulnerable position.

Negotiations aimed at dismantling North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes have stalled since a second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un broke down in February over disagreements on denuclearisation.

North Korea blamed the United States on Monday for a failure to restart talks, with Pyongyang’s U.N. ambassador Kim Song saying it was time for Washington to share proposals for talks that showed Washington had adopted a new “calculation method”.

South Korea and the United States have separately begun talks for a new military burden-sharing agreement to decide how much South Korea will pay for stationing what is now about 28,500 U.S. troops in the country.

Moon told Trump during a summit in New York last week what South Korea would contribute, including an increase in purchases of U.S. weapons and future purchase plans, a senior official at South Korea’s presidential office said.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee Editing by Jack Kim, Paul Tait and Gerry Doyle)

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